Information related to strength properties and behavior of a material is crucial in component and part design, particularly in the aerospace industry. Typically such information is found through load testing a sample of the material and observing its behavior under various load conditions. For example, a small sample of material, known as a coupon, may be loaded with a tensile load or a compressive load and tested to destruction.
Coupons are typically fabricated to include particular features configured for attachment to a testing jig or machine. For example, several tabs are built on the coupon and holes are drilled through the tabs, which are bolted to the test jig. Once the test is complete, the coupon must be unbolted and removed from the test jig. Thus, the process of testing a new material can be time intensive and costly. For example, the process of fabricating and testing coupons can take between 2 and 6 months.
With the development of new composite materials, the time and cost associated with testing the composites and various configurations of composites can be prohibitive. For example, composite structures have many different combinations of layering will require orders of magnitude more coupon testing.
Accordingly, those skilled in the art continue with research and development efforts in the field of material load testing.